Proposal	Chapter 1: Hungry
Chapter 2: Feeding	Chapter 3: Attention
Chapter 4: Compassion	Chapter 5:Resources
Chapter 6: Nutrition

You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing. Psalm 23:5 (The Message)

Menu Item #4
Nutrition

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven…Mark 6:41

"God has always given me a place to lay my head down at night. It may not be a green pasture by still waters (Psalm 23). He also has provided me with food and nutrition, It may have not been what I was desiring but it was good enough so I did not go to bed hungry." Joey

Mom was right. Don't spoil your dinner.

How many times around 5:00 PM, with dinner like an hour away, have you reached for the chips or the cookies or the cake, thinking one hour is too far away?

For me, one of my weaknesses is Doritos. The sign of any good product is that it comes in a ton of options.

BAKED! DORITOS COOLER RANCH® Flavored Tortilla Chips
BAKED! DORITOS NACHO CHEESIER® Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Black Pepper Jack Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS COOLER RANCH® Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Four Cheese Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Guacamole! Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Light NACHO CHEESIER® Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Mini COOLER RANCH® Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Mini NACHO CHEESIER® Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS NACHO CHEESIER® Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Natural Cool Ranch Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Natural White Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Ranchero Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Reduced Fat NACHO CHEESIER® Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS ROLLITOS™ COOLER RANCH® Tortilla Snacks
DORITOS ROLLITOS™ NACHO CHEESIER® Tortilla Snacks
DORITOS ROLLITOS™ Queso Picante! Tortilla Snacks
DORITOS ROLLITOS™ Zesty Taco! Tortilla Snacks
DORITOS Salsa Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Salsa Verde Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Spicier Nacho Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Taco Flavored Tortilla Chips
DORITOS Toasted Corn Tortilla Chips

Any product that can make something Nacho Cheesier ranks in the food Hall of Fame in my book. I can understand making something spicier, but to go beyond the cheese taste into the realms of cheesier is just brilliant. What's next? Cheesiest? Cheesierest? Cheese Squared?

My other weakness: Oreos. Not only do they make the original with chocolate cookie and white cream, which is good, but what about Double Stuff. Twice the cream! Isn't that a brilliant discovery? That ranks up there with cures for Polio and Laser Eye Surgery. Twice as much cream. Whoever came up with that surely deserves a Pulitzer or a free ticket into heaven.

God: "Enter, O inventor of the Double Stuff. My kingdom awaits."

That didn't stop Nabisco. No sir. How about the Golden Originals with vanilla cookie on the outside? Or Chocolate cookies with Fudge cream? Or their line of Uh-Oh cookies (like Nabisco would ever make a mistake) of Vanilla cookie with Fudge cream! Or, the grand poopah of them all…White Chocolate covered Oreo cookies.

Words can't express my feelings right now.

As good as chips, cookies and cakes taste, I have to break some bad news-they have very little nutritional value. A little bite here and there won't kill you, but a steady diet of Little Debbie cakes, BBQ Fritos and Twinkies will.

Junk food should be called obscene food. The word "obscene" means useless, unnecessary, without merit. When we curse, we utter words that we don't need to say or that don't help our cause. In fact, we substitute a curse word for random symbols that mean nothing like @#!%*$.

Isn't it funny that I could put this @#!%*$ into a sentence and immediately your @#!%*$ mind thinks obscene things? I meant those symbols to mean "phrase" and "brilliant", but you went to the obscene. You're naughty.

That's what junk food is. Obscene.

Read the labels: Preservatives, flavor enhancers, sugar substitutes, fat reducers - you might as well down a beaker of chemicals. Disgusting.

But, man, junk food tastes good…

I can lead the chant against junk food and preach the benefits of health, but as I drive home, I eye that Burger King like an alcoholic driving by a seedy bar.

"What's one Whopper going to do to me? I can drive around the back and no one will see me. If I pay cash, no one has to know. I can't stop any time I want!"

Junk food is good, but not good for you.

It's obscene how much we reach for it without even thinking.

When Jesus chose the food to serve at the feeding of the 5,000, he wanted to make sure he chose something that was healthy. No raisin cakes delicacies. Jesus chose food that was filling (bread) and healthy (fish).
Breads, especially whole grains like those found in the first century, provide fiber to your diet, promoting digestion health and even helping your heart.

ScienceDaily (May 10, 2007) - A diet high in whole grain foods is associated with a significantly lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, according to an analysis conducted by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
"Consuming an average of 2.5 servings of whole grains each day is associated with a 21 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to consuming only 0.2 servings," said Philip Mellen, M.D., lead author and an assistant professor of internal medicine. "These findings suggest that we should redouble our efforts to encourage patients to include more of these foods in their diets."
The findings are based on an analysis of seven studies involving more than 285,000 people. By combining the data from these seven studies, researchers were able to detect effects that may not have shown up in each individual study. The studies were conducted between 1966 and April 2006.
Mellen said the findings are consistent with earlier research, but that despite abundant evidence about the health benefits of whole grains, intake remains low. A nutrition survey conducted between 1999 and 2000 found that only 8 percent of U.S. adults consumed three or more servings of whole grain per day and that 42 percent of adults ate no whole grains on a given day. "Many consumers and health professionals are unaware of the health benefits of whole grains," said Mellen.
A grain is "whole" when the entire grain seed is retained: the bran, germ and the endosperm. The bran and germ components are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and healthy fats. These are the parts removed in the refining process, leaving behind the energy-dense but nutrient-poor endosperm portion of the grain. Examples of whole grain foods include wild rice, popcorn, oatmeal, brown rice, barley, wheat berries and flours such as whole wheat.
In addition to protecting against cardiovascular disease, which accounts for one-third of deaths worldwide, there is evidence that whole grains also project against diabetes and other chronic conditions.
"Years ago, scientists hypothesized that the higher rates of chronic diseases we have in the West, including heart disease, are due, in part, to a diet full of processed foods," Mellen said. "Subsequent studies have born that out -- especially with whole grains. Greater whole grain intake is associated with less obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol -- major factors that increase the risk for heart disease and stroke."
According to nutritionists, consumers should look for "100 percent whole grain" on food labels or look for specific types of whole-grain flour as the main ingredient, such as "whole wheat." (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070509161030.htm. These results were published on line in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases and will appear in a future print issue.Co-researchers were: Thomas Walsh, M.D., and David Herrington, M.H.S., M.D., both from Wake Forest.)

Fish provides our bodies with two poly-unsaturated oils, Omega-3 and Omega-6, both good for our heart, our brain and even, some studies say, our vision.

Continuing research involves the role of omega-3 fatty acids and the immune system, and suggests a positive influence on rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, lupus, kidney disease and cancer, as well as promising research at the National Institutes of Health on depression. (http://www.ific.org/publications/brochures/fishbroch.cfm)

Every morning I take vitamins. Two of the most important vitamins I take are Flaxseed and Fish Oil, both recommended for my heart, circulation and to reduce cholesterol.

Flax comes from a grain or seed. Fish oil comes from, well, a fish.

Grains and fish.

Jesus miraculously served the people the healthiest food items around.

God is acutely aware of our health and knows exactly what we need to maintain a healthy body, as well as healthy relationships and a healthy attitude.

In the spiritual marketplace, we tend to throw bags of junk food into our carts too. Instead of dining off God's provisions, we seek out those items that taste good for a moment, then leave us hungry minutes later.

That's pretty much the definition of sin.

Sin is anything that fulfills us temporarily, then leaves us obscenely unsatisfied and empty.

For example, a sexual sin satisfies for only a moment, then is quickly followed by guilt and sorrow. It looks like love on the packaging, but inside it's junk. Obscene.

When we love someone with God's love, there is no regret or hunger pains two minutes later. Why? Because what God offers fills us and satisfies us. His recipes for our life give us eternal fulfillment, not temporary appeasement.

We work to feed our appetites; Meanwhile our souls go hungry. Ecclesiastes 6:7 (The Message)

Sin is the world's diet plan. If I work to feed my appetite with the menu items of this world, my soul starves to death.

If I turn to God and dine off His diet plan, I receive the exact ingredients needed to survive.

Adam and Eve weren't the only ones who forgot the diet plan.

The Israelites, freed from Egyptian tyranny, crossed the desert to the land promised to them by God. Along the way, they angered God with their propensity towards idols, specifically a golden calf. This bad habit of worshipping other gods developed, no doubt, in Pharaoh World. To retrain their minds, God allowed them to wander, aimlessly, through a barren and harsh terrain.

Psalm 107 tells of their troubles.

They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men,
for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.
Psalm 107:5-9

God's diet plan consists of the whole-grain promises of God's power, God's ability, God's love. He has the strength to save us from our troubles, lead us in the right direction, bless us with wonderful blessings and satisfy our thirst and hunger. It's these truths that should make up our daily diet.

When we forget them, we get overwhelmed, burdened, bloated, weighed down.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

His promises are the spiritual nutrition God wants to serve us. His Bible is full of them-a cookbook for our soul. When we dine on them, we feel full, satisfied, not hungry two hours later.

The Israelites certainly didn't lack access to spiritual food. They had the presence of God before them at all times. They had His plan to take them to the Promised Land. They had His promise to make them a great nation. They had the Red Sea experience to remind them of His power.

No, the source of their troubles was that when they began to worry and fret about their future, they chose an obscene, fast-food-golden-arches-calf over the USDA approved, prime choice God. They ate junk food served by obscene gods.

Sound familiar?

Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Luke 6:25

Our calendars may be full, our menus planned, our bank accounts stuffed, our friends lined up down the block, but we could still be hungry.

What kind of junk food could be on our diet, slowing us down and making us fat?

The past.
Television.
Oprah Book Club winners.
Radio talk shows.
Our IPODs.
The Internet.
Fast cars.
What other people say.
The Bow-flex.
Our pet beagle.
Coffee shops.
Sales at Target.
The Mall.
Chat rooms.
Johnny Depp movies.

What? Are these things unhealthy for us? Not necessarily…unless they take the place of the promises of God. They are not food for our soul.

God didn't mind that the people made a golden calf. The finest Jewish craftsmen displayed their God-given creativity and handiwork. He did mind when they worshipped it, thinking a metal cow could do the impossible, the miraculous and the stupendous.

Everything listed above is not bad until we think it will solve our problems, supply our needs or fill our souls. The problem occurs when they become our diet.

If we go to anything else for the things only God can provide, we are eating junk food. Tastes good, looks good, not good, un-nutritious.

During the most difficult periods in my life, I tend to dine off of worry. Worry about finances. Worry about family members. Worry about the future. Worry about the present.

I purchase worry in bulk and a bountiful supply of worry is always in arm's reach. I fill my hands with it, shoveling it into my mouth. I bake worry slowly at 350 degrees for two hours or grill it up in searing heat until it's nice and crispy. I recently purchased a crock pot so I can simmer my worry all day, even overnight, so in the morning it's hot and ready to go.

Worry is my spiritual junk food. It sort of tastes good, kind of feels good for a little while, is not good for me at all.

However, worry only adds unnecessary weight to my life, weight God asks to carry instead.

God has another diet plan in mind and He shows us those promises during the mass feedings.

God sees our situation and knows what's best for us.

God knows our lack and wants to supply us with more.

God hears our stomachs growling and has just the thing to satisfy our hunger pains.

He wants us to dine on the nutritional content of His promises.

TABLE TALK

1. What is your favorite junk food?
2. Describe a binge you could go on and your feelings afterwards.
3. What earthly items act as your "junk food"?
4. Describe the fulfillment these items provide and how they different from the fulfillment God provides.
5. Diets are hard. Why is giving up your life's "junk food" is so hard?

© Troy Schmidt, 2009